| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Siding Spring Srvy. |
| Discovery site | Siding Spring Obs. |
| Discovery date | 18 December 2008 |
| Designations | |
| (342842)2008 YB3 | |
| 2008 YB3 | |
| centaur[2][3][4] · damocloid distant[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 1 July 2021 (JD 2459396.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 1 | |
| Observation arc | 11.78yr (4,302 d) |
| Aphelion | 16.698AU |
| Perihelion | 6.4673 AU |
| 11.583 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4417 |
| 39.42 yr (14,399 d) | |
| 94.371° | |
| 0° 1m 30s / day | |
| Inclination | 105.06° |
| 112.64° | |
| 330.44° | |
| TJupiter | -0.2460 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 67 km[3][5] | |
| n.a.[2][6] | |
| 0.062[3][5] | |
| BR[3] B–I =1.750±0.01[7] B–R =1.260±0.01[7] R–I =0.490±0.01[7] V–R =0.460±0.01[7] | |
| 9.3[1][2] | |
(342842) 2008 YB3 (provisional designation:2008 YB3) is a sizablecentaur and retrogradedamocloid from theouter Solar System, approximately 67 kilometers (42 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 18 December 2008, by astronomers with theSiding Spring Survey at theSiding Spring Observatory in Australia.[1][3] Theminor planet was numbered in 2012 and has since not beennamed.
2008 YB3 orbits the Sun at a distance of 6.5–16.7 AU once every 39 years and 5 months (14,399 days;semi-major axis of 11.58 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.44 and aninclination of 105° with respect to theecliptic.[2] The body'sobservation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Siding Spring in December 2008.[1]
2008 YB3 is a member of thecentaurs, a population of inward-moving bodies transiting from theKuiper belt to the group ofJupiter-family comets. Orbiting mainly betweenJupiter andNeptune, they typically have asemi-major axis of 5.5 to 30.1 AU. Centaurs are cometary-like bodies with aneccentric orbit. Their shortdynamical lifetime is due to theperturbing forces exerted on them by theouter planets of the Solar System.[8]
The object is on aretrograde orbit as it has an inclination of more than 90°.[2][9] There are only about a hundred knownretrograde minor planets out of nearly 800,000 observed bodies, and, together with2013 LU28 and2011 MM4, it is among the largest such objects.[9] The object also meets the orbital definition for being adamocloid. This is a small group of cometary-like objects without acoma or tail and aTisserand's parameter with respect to Jupiter of less than 2 besides a retrograde orbit.
Thisminor planet wasnumbered by theMinor Planet Center on 29 October 2012, receiving the number342842 in theminor planet catalog (M.P.C. 80959).[10] As of 2025[update], it has not beennamed.[1] According to the establishednaming conventions, it will be named after one of the manycentaurs fromGreek mythology, which are creatures with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.[11]
2008 YB3 has an intermediateBR color, in between the BB ("grey-blue") and RR ("very red") color classes.[3]Sheppard's obtainedcolor indices: B–I (1.750), B–R (1.260), R–I (0.490) and V–R (0.460) agree withmost other centaurs.[7][8]: 4 The resulting B–V index is 0.8 (subtracting V–R from B–R).
According to the survey of centaurs andscattered-disc objects carried out by theNEOWISE mission of NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,2008 YB3 measures 67.1 kilometers (41.7 miles) in diameter and its surface has analbedo of 0.062,[5] which makes it too small to be considered as adwarf planet candidate.
As of 2021[update], no rotationallightcurve of has been obtained fromphotometric observations. The body'srotation period,pole and shape remain unknown.[2][6]
